JAPFA Foundation, a corporation established by PT JAPFA Comfeed Indonesia Tbk. (JAPFA) with the Nutritious Indonesia Consortium organized the Nutritious Indonesia Conference (KIB), 2016.

The conference put forward the theme of "The Improvement of Young Women’s Nutrition Through Partnership Synergy." In the event, JAPFA Foundation brings together various parties (government, funder, intermediaries, implementer / operator and academics) to mutually collaborate in designing nutrition programs for children and adolescents by national mapping and referring to the nutritional sector programs of the Government of the Republic Indonesia.

 IDGIZI

"Indonesia is now faced with the problems of nutrition which is quite complex. Data released by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia shows that, teenagers aged 13-18 years have the energy sufficiency level of 72.3% with the proportion of consumption of less than 70% of the Energy Needs Score, which is only 52.5%. To tackle these problems, we need concrete solutions," said Head of JAPFA Foundation, Andi Prasetyo. He added that KIB 2016 is expected to be the right medium for stakeholders to solve nutrition problems in Indonesia. "In this conference, we encourage meetings as well as multi-stakeholder partnerships, both from the government, the private, and the public sector. Together, we hope to create a comprehensive solution to the problem of malnutrition in Indonesia."

The first KIB was held in 2015 with the theme "Improving Children-Adolescents Nutrition Through Partnership Synergy." In this second year, JAPFA Foundation continued its commitment through KIB 2016 and also aims to provide access to information and funding for all audiences who care about the improvement of public nutrition.

Efforts to improve adolescents nutrition was based on the main focus of KIB 2016, that young women are prioritized to have more nutrition. According to data from the Indonesian Pediatric Association, adolescents between the ages of 15-18 years, is an initial phase where nutritional needs will be divided by sex. This is due to biological and physiological changes, thus fulfilling the nutritional needs of young men and women were to be different. In particular, young women as future mothers have nutritional vulnerabilities. It is at this time that young women menstruate in the early phase of their lives and require more iron.

 IDGIZI

"The lack of nutrition awareness in young women could lead to the emergence of serious health problems later in life. Nutritional problems that could potentially arise include stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, especially iron deficiency anemia, and malnutrition, "said Chairman of the Center for Nutrition and Health at the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia, Ir. Ahmad Syafiq, M.Sc., Ph.D. "Our current focus is the consumption of nutrients in the form of animal protein, given the current insufficient consumption of animal protein in the Indonesian society. Consistent lack of protein intake in adolescents may result in reduced linear growth, delayed sexual maturation, and reduced accumulation of lean body mass."

The JAPFA Foundation held KIB 2016, on the basis of a common vision of various parties. Parties involved in the event were the JAPFA Foundation, Omar Niode Foundation, SHS, Food For Kids, Nutrition and Health Research Center at the University of Indonesia and Filantropi Indonesia.

At the conference the Omar Niode Foundation distributed Popolulu, a nutritious snacks originally from Gorontalo and made from sweet potato, shredded coconut, rice flour, and palm sugar. KIB 2016 consists of scientific plenary session titled bureaucracy and advocacy, creative industry session and socio-economic session.

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All images by Omar Niode Foundation, unless otherwise noted